Small World
by Satan's Sweeties
Summary: It's god-awful late at task force headquarters, and all Light wants is some sleep. Unfortunately, L doesn't seem to be leaving anywhere fast. He decides to text a friend in England; a friend that L happens to know quite well. Small world, huh?


It was three in the morning at task force headquarters, and amidst the tapping of L's fingertips on the keyboard and the blinding light of the ever-running computer monitors, a tired, burned out, and bored Light Yagami couldn't sleep, and L wasn't proving to be any sort of interesting company. As much as the young adult would've liked to get up and leave the insomniac detective for the promise of a cushy bed and a good night's sleep, he was handcuffed to him and it seemed as though L wasn't leaving for anything. Finally growing tired of watching the genius type sentence after sentence and trough the expanse of the internet for more information on Kira, he absolved to opening his cell phone and trying to find someone to talk to.

Most of his contact list resided in Japan, so they were out of the question. One name, however, he distinctly remembered as belonging to an orphan he'd met about two years ago while vacationing with his family in England.

His parents had given in to his sister's pleas to go shopping, and allowed him to wander off on his own so long as he took his phone and met them at the designated meeting place at the time they'd specified. During a walk through a busy, child-filled public park, he'd accidentally tripped over a boy sitting on the grass, just out of his line of sight. Hastily apologizing, he stood up and brushed himself off, extending a hand in an offering of helping the boy up, which he non-tentatively accepted. Once getting a good look at him, Light noticed that this kid looked like none other he'd ever come across; his shaggy brown hair was messy, his black-and-white striped shirt was at least two sizes too big, and he wore orange-tinted goggles over his eyes.

Wondering vaguely if the boy was still the same as he was two years ago, Light began typing a short greeting into the message box, hitting send and setting the phone on vibrate, placing it on the desk next to him. About a minute later, he received a reply.

_To: Light_

_From: Matt_

_Eh, Lightbulb! Haven't spoken to ya in a while! What's up?_

Laughing under his breath at the childish cockiness displayed by Matt's language, he typed out an answer to his question, pressing send and setting the phone down once more, turning to face a questioning L. "Light-kun, I must say that I don't believe I've ever heard you laugh. What are you doing?" he asked, resting his chin on his knees and blinking a few times.

"I'm texting a friend, Ryuuzaki," he answered, picking up his buzzing phone and reading Matt's reply before handing the phone to L's curious hands. "His name is Matt, and I met him a couple years ago while on vacation with my family. He's a really sweet kid, and he's got a great sense of humor. A tad weird, maybe, but his heart's in the right place."

L stared at the phone, silently examining it before looking up at Light once more. "Light-kun, may I ask a question?" The handcuffed brunet nodded, brushing a few strands of hair out of his face. "Was this Matt playing with some sort of handheld entertainment device when you stumbled upon him? And was he wearing some type of eyewear resembling goggles?" Light nodded again, and a small smile graced L's lips as he gave the phone back. "I believe you have met the third of my successors, Light-kun."

"Your…successors?" Light repeated, cocking his head to the side and furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

Nodding, L replied, "Yes, my successors. In the event that something happened to me, I have a selection of extraordinary children showing superior intelligence to choose from as the one who will succeed me as L. Matt is third in line for the position of L, but is still very smart and could easily take my place if the need arose."

"Interesting," the brunet mused, giving Matt a heads up as to what he was going to do next. Sending the message, he regarded L again, saying, "You seem awful sure that you won't make it through this Kira ordeal alive, Ryuuzaki. You are quite the pessimist."

"I'm not a pessimist," L countered, "I am a realist. The probability that I survive this case is very low, and more likely than not it will be one of my successors that ultimately solves the case and sees it through to the end. While I do prefer that I don't perish, I have to accept the fact that I probably will. The world is a harsh, unforgiving place, Light-kun, and sometimes we must believe that things will happen, whether or not we want them to."

Light's phone vibrated, catching his attention.

_To: Light_

_From: Matt_

_LOL I'll be waiting._

Grinning, he dialed Matt's number, setting the phone on speaker as L sat there, studying the smile on his face and wondering what was going on. After a ring or two, the phone was answered. _"'Ello?"_

"Hello, Matt. It's Light."

_"Yo, Lightbulb! Good to hear your voice after these couple years, eh? So, you said you had someone sitting there that you wanted me to talk to?"_

L looked puzzled, but Light just nudged him and motioned for him to talk. "Greetings, Matt."

Matt's side of the conversation went silent for a moment. _"L? Is that you?"_

He smiled softly, picturing the ecstatic look on the young boy's face as he realized the voice of his mentor after all these years. "Yes it is. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

_"Yeah, it has! Life at Wammy's is still the same, but we all really miss you! Oh, and everybody wants to know when you'll visit next!"_

"I've been meaning to make it out there for some time now, but I've been swept up in a case and found myself in Japan. How are Mello and Near doing?" Light assumed that Mello and Near were two other successors, and the hopefulness in L's voice told him that maybe the two didn't get along too well.

_"Same old, same old. Mello still hates Near, Near's still a complete dick to Mello, and I'm still caught up, quite unwillingly, in the middle. I don't understand how you think that there's a chance in hell for them ever to get along. You're L, yes, and you're smart, but really? I just don't see that working out. Maybe if Mels wasn't so damn competitive and Near wasn't such an ass, it would work. Unfortunately, Mello is Mello and Near is Near."_

A second voice in the background joined Matt's. _"Oi, Mattie! The hell are you talking to?"_

Chuckling quietly, L said smoothly, "Good to speak to you once again, Mello."

_"L?" _Seeing the smile on L's face caused a similar one to spread across Light's, and it made him happy to see that, somewhere, there were people that loved L. More interestingly so, it was both a shock and a relief to see that L had deep enough feelings to return the love, regardless of the love being given over the phone. _"My God, L! It's been forever since we talked last! Jesus, if I hadn't known better, I'd've sworn you were like, fucking dead or some shit like that! How's the Kira case going?"_

"Mello, you know I can't discuss cases with you."

_"Yeah, yeah, I know. I just thought it'd be worth a try. What's Japan like?"_

"The atmosphere and environment is beautiful, and the people are kind. Watari has fantastic taste in pastries, and always brings the best Japanese cakes he can find. The candies, however, are…sub-par. No offense, Light-kun," he added, glancing at Light apologetically.

Light just laughed, reassuring him with a, "None taken, Ryuuzaki. I know that most other sweets have a significantly higher sugar content than Japanese candies."

_"Do you want to talk to Near, too?"_

_"Matt, don't you dare bring that sheep into our room!"_

_"But he's a successor as well!"_

_"I don't care! I hate him!"_

_"L, we've gotta go. Mello's getting pissy and it's just about time to eat dinner. Call anytime you want, 'kay? Later!"_

"Goodbye, Matt. Send Near my greetings."

_"Aye aye, cap'n."_

Pressing the end button, Light smiled at L, feeling positively giddy that he'd done a good deed by allowing the detective to speak with his successors again. The long distance minutes he'd used would probably piss his parents off, but if he explained that it was to help a friend get in contact with people he hadn't seen in a long while, they might understand. L's deep baritone cut through Light's thoughts as he powered down the computers, offering, "Light-kun, we must head to bed now. Tomorrow, or technically today," he corrected, glancing at the clock, "we have a lot of work to do. Come."

Beaming, Light followed him up the stairs and into their shared bedroom, flopping down onto the double bed they were sharing due to the handcuffs they wore. Extracting the key to the cuffs, L unlocked both sides and changed into his sleeping clothes, reattaching both ends of the chain after Light did the same. They crawled underneath the covers, and before the clutches of sleep could claim him, Light heard his bedmate murmur, "Thank you, Light-kun."

Smiling sleepily, he whispered back, "You're welcome, Ryuuzaki."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Aww, Light has a heart! :)


End file.
